Powder prices 1894-95

[1950DAVE]

Montgomery Ward&Co catalog

 

[griffiga]

When I joined out local Civil War group back in 1989, a pound of GO powder was $4. I remember when it went to $5 and thought that was a lot. Then for reinactments we bought cannon powder for $3/lb. I still have most of a can of GO 4F I bought for my Charleville musket. Of course, my annual salary back then was less than $20,000.

 

[Hawken]

In 1894 money was hard to get, or at least they certainly weren't giving it away. Based on current spot gold price that powder sold for about $12 a pound translated to modern confetti-bucks.

 

[ohio ramrod]

In the middle sixties the black powder sold for two dollars a pound . But you were limited to four lbs where I bought it. Every time I was driving past the store I would get four lbs. I used to shoot my 28 gauge shotgun for 2& 1/2 cents a shot . That included , cap,powder, and shot. A twelve gauge modern cost 10 cents a shot then so I shot many rabbits with my 28 gauge.

 

[tenngun]

I did a reinactment of a salt boiler from cr 1820 for Arrowrock mo ‘night at the museum event’. Nathan Boone had a salt works across the river from Arrowrock.
Salt was sent to St Louis and sold for .10 a pound.... the same price local made gunpowder.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Thanks for posting that. It's a fun post to see.

Funny how expensive the small gauge shells are compared to the bigger and more used ones (in normal times). I wonder how many of the western folks far from civilization milled their own powder in those days, not for a lack of goods to trade for it, but for one of logistics. If you're carrying a gun every day doing your rounds or hunting, you don't shoot very many rounds, so my guess is that 5 pounds would probably last them at least a year.